So long BIG city!

Ok... I hope I don't offend anyone with this posting, but this ALL needs to be said:

I can NOT believe I live HERE!!!

So, we moved to Roosevelt, Utah... population is under 5,000 people! Outside of fast food joints and gas stations there are no businesses that I have ever heard of here!!!! No TGIF's, no Chili's, no Old Navy, no Walmart, no Target, no Sally's Beauty Supply, NO LIFE!!

The worst part is that the closest "big" town is Vernal which is 30 minutes away and all they have off my list if a Walmart! AND... the only restaurant out there that I have even heard of is a GOLDEN CORRAL!!!

Someone... please shoot me! (not literally!) I know, I know... I sound like a spoiled brat... but, I really didn't think that I was that spoiled until I moved here! I am trying to get used to it, but it is very, very difficult.

On the lighter side... I have gotten a few giggles! So far I have been told to get a job changing oil, that the best place to buy clothes is the ACE Hardware, and have learned what "upper class" homes REALLY mean in a small town... stone columns on either side of the entrance to your property and a chain link fence surrounding the rest!

Ok.... I really shouldn't get a laugh out of other peoples life styles, but it is really hard to keep a straight face sometimes out here.

Anyway... I will put some pictures up of our new home soon and will write more then.
Talk to ya'll soon! LOL

TGIBF... thank goodness it's BLACK friday!

WOW!!! I went out with my in-laws on black friday to shop, it was my first time. What an adventure!!!!

We went to the Mall at midnight and got home around 2:30am. Then we got up at 4am to go to Walmart and got home around 7:30am. I was EXHAUSTED!!!! But, I got some pretty good deals. Although, I don't know if I will do that again... the shoppers that go out around that time are a LOT meaner than I can be!

At one point while I was in Walmart, there was a lady running into the back of me with her cart because she wanted me to get moving even though I had other people in front of me!!! I know... CRAZY!

Well, now that's over with and I have almost ALL of my Christmas shopping done! And it's just the first of December!!! YEAH!!!!!

Besides Friday, it was still a hectic weekend. My husband left Friday morning to go back to Vernal... :( sad! I spent Saturday and Sunday cleaning our old apartment and moving our stuff from a storage unit in Draper to our new unit in Lehi. I have also been making albums for family members for Christmas and I only have 1 left to do!!! I am ALMOST sick of scrapbooking! LOL But... not quite!

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful!!

Want to WIN?!!?

Hey everyone!!

I thought all you scrapbook lovers out there would want to know about a giveaway from Scenic Route! My boss, Layle Koncar, is giving away a $100 shopping spree to a lucky winner that leaves a comment on her weblog by end of day Monday, November 24th!! This is to help spread the work about Scenic Route's NEW online consumer store that I mentioned in yesterdays posting!

So..... go to the following website:

http://laylekoncar.typepad.com/

and leave a comment!

GOOD LUCK!!!!

And... don't forget to check out our new lines:

Garland

Sonoma

Tooooooooooooo MUCH!!!

So, we have our apartment rented as of the first of December! Great news!!! Until I realized that I have two weeks to move out and I haven't even begun to start packing!

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on scrapbooking gifts for Christmas. I wanted to get it all done before I started to pack up, but I am only half way there!

My wonderful mother has agreed to let me bring ALL of my scrapbooking supplies to her house so that I can continue my projects after we move out. Because my husband is working 3 hours away, I will be packing us up and moving in with his parents until we can get a place out there. I have one week to get us all packed up so that, when he comes out for Thanksgiving, he can help me move our stuff into storage.

The packing is not a HUGE thing... I now that my mom and his parents will be around to help, but I am not looking forward to moving all our stuff into storage right before the holidays and then move again once we find a place.

Oh well... you do what you have to. I do feel good about our decissions though and know that we are doing what needs to be done to be happy. I am sad about moving so far away from family, but in doing so I will be able to go back to school and we are talking about trying for a baby again.

ON A HAPPIER NOTE:

I wanted to let you all know that Scenic Route is now selling to consumers through our NEW online store!! Check it out... let me know what you think or if you have any questions! This is very exciting!!

https://mivasecure.abac.com/wjmilne/merchant.mvc

Another Move?!!?

So... for those of you that didn't know, my husband was layed off a month ago and has had trouble finding a good job. But, he finally found a wonderful job doing what he likes, geting paid a lot of money, and starting right away!

The only problem is that it is THREE hours away! Ahh! We discussed the situation a lot over the weekend and decided that this was just too good to pass up. He drove to Vernal on Sunday night and started working Monday morning. He will be staying there during the week and coming home over the weekends and we thought that we could make it work that way... but, as we talked we realized that it made more sense for us to just move out there.

We don't want to be apart that long (especially since we have only been married a year), it would cost a lot more to have him commute, and we WOULD still be in Utah. So... we are moving after the New Year!!

My husband will be commutting back and forth over the next month and a half until we are ready. We talked to the landlord of our apartment, I spoke with my work, and I have started packing... I just can't believe this! I was prepared to move... but, not that far away.

Even though I will be leaving Scenic Route I will still be working with them at the Sandy shows and continuing to Scrapbook all I can!

Laundry Line by My Mind's Eye

So.... I am really excited about a line that I recently bought from Scrapbook USA at the Sandy Expo Center in Utah in September. I went to the A Page 4 All Seasons booth and was checking out the products by My Mind's Eye. I noticed all the glittered paper (which I LOVE!) and ended up bauying paper, die cuts, ribbon, and stamps from the Laundry Line! I thought that I would share a couple of the layouts I did:

On the layout above I put little pearls on each of the printed flowers all over the page. Also, for those of you who don't know, Tuozzo is my maiden name and I am the 4 year old in the pink dress! ;)

As you can see below, I brushed the edges of the Bazzill paper with green ink in different amounts.

Let me know what you think!!

If you are interested in the products that I used then check out the following websites:

A Page 4 All Seasons http://stores.apage4allseasons.com/StoreFront.bok

My Mind's Eye http://www.mymindseye.com/

Morning Ritual

So, every morning during the week I listen to the radio on the way to work and in my office as well. I used to switch around stations trying to find the music that I was in the mood for that day or listening to KSL talk radio if I wasn't in the mood for music.

A few weeks ago I happen to turn on 97.1 ZHT and what ever they were talking about caught my attention. As I was listening I found myself laughing over and over at their comments! So,
I ended up turning that same station on the next morning and was once again sucked in to their commentary... especially Danger Boy, his little out bursts just CRACK ME UP!! Now, every morning I listen to them on the way to work and continue listening in my office... I not only LOVE listening to them, I find myself sending little comments or emails in to them with my two cents on some of the subjects they are discussing!

This has become my morning ritual and I love it!

Check them out some time!!

http://www.971zht.com/pages/morningzoo/

Leave your print

I hope that you all remember to VOTE today!

I'm back!

Wow! That was a LONG trip! Not bad, just long. I flew out on Friday night to Chicago. Saturday we packed up my mom's house into a moving truck and cleaned her home. We then put her car on a trailer and hit the road around 4 pm. We made it to Des Moines, IA that night and got a hotel room.

We were up around 7:30 am the next morning, got some breakfast, and hit the road. We made it through Iowa, but hit some hard wind gusts in Nebraska. I felt like I was fighting the stearing wheel! We got to Cheyenne, WI and stayed the night.

Monday seemed like more of a breeze. We left around 9 am and got to Salt Lake at about 5:30 pm. We stopped and had dinner at my in-laws and dropped off my mom's things because she would be staying the night at their house. We then unloaded her car and went to her new place to get the keys and for her to see it! (I picked this place out for her, so I was nervouse that she wouldn't like it... but, she LOVES it!!) Then I headed home to see my hubby and sleep in MY bed... both were wonderful!

I spent the last 2 days with my mom, helping her get settled in. I didn't get many pictures on the road, but I got some cute ones with family that I will put on later.

Hope you all had a fun and safe weekend... I will be back soon!

Bring her home!

I leave today to go get my Mom! Wohoooooo!!!!




If any of you know me well, then you know how close I am with my mom... she's my best friend! Anyway, I am flying out about 4:45pm today to go to Chicago. We will be packing up a truck and cleaning her place tomorrow and then hitting the road early Sunday morning.... EARLY! Like 6am early!! Ahh! LOL

She and I will be driving a truck and pulling a car dolly with her van on it from Chicago to Salt Lake City. We should be back by Tuesday. I already found her a place to live which will be available by the time we get out here, she was hired by Kids on the Move/Baby Watch to do Early Intervention which she really enjoys, and she is VERY excited!! (Who wouldn't be, moving close to me! ;)



So, I will talk to you all when I get back... have a great weekend!!

Sneak Peak

So... I just sent 11 different ideas of mine to a magazine company and I am hoping that at least one of them gets a bite! I hear it is pretty hard to get published in the scrapbooking world, but I figure I just wont get my hopes up and that it doesn't hurt to try. I thought that you all might enjoy a little sneak peak!

I don't want to give away all of my ideas until I am sure they are or are not going to be used. So... Here is just one of the projects that I did:

This is not just a card... it is a Gift card holder. I used Scenic Route's NEW mini line called Garland!! (Link below)

http://www.scenicroutepaper.com/Site3/product_detail.aspx?id=e868f870-2b6f-4079-8bc8-d3a006e3ed88

I have had a lot of fun with this line, especially because my favorite "Christmas design" is snowflakes and they have 2 papers with snowflakes on them. Also, the snowflakes are in brown and cream! I LOVE IT!!!! That seems to be the colors right now... you know, the "nutral" thing!

So, I thought I would share a little bit with you guys. I should hear back by the 29th of this month and if I don't then I will share the rest with you.

Why can't we all just be skinny?

I am just so tired of weight loss... or the lack there of! I have battled my weight for YEARS! I just can't seem to remain thin. When I was eighteen I got down to about 165lbs which is pretty good for being 5'9" tall. But, I did not get there the healthy way. Besides that, I have always been heavy. Don't let my pictures fool ya... I am very good at hiding it in pictures! I know what angles make me look good and I have some editing programs that I know how to play with.

Although I have been losing weight over the last year (20lbs) I don't FEEL like I have lost at all. I have not gone down a single dress size and am getting quite discouraged!

It also doesn't help that I have sisters who can't seem to don't really understand........


These are three out of my four sisters... gorgeous, I know! It's hard to look at, but I am very proud that I have beautiful sisters too! The one on the bottom has only struggled with her weight once and it was after she was married and I think it was due to some birth control side effects. She worked very hard to get her weight back down, so she can empathize a little. So... Here's ME:



But, I will eat healthy and nothin'! The only thing I haven't done is have a daily workout schedule... but, I just can't find the time. AND, if you say my schedule, you would see why. Besides, you would think that what I did each day would make up for that!

I am official title is an Administrative Assistant, but back in the old days I would have been considered a "Girl Friday!" I do a little bit of everything! I really do love it! But, it can consist of a lot of running around, up and down the stairs from my office to the warehouse, and a LOT of lifting! After work it doesn't seem to stop!! I am up and down the stairs of our apartment not only coming and going, but for but for laundry as well. I clean the apartment every week, lately I have been organizing our place, our storage unit, and my in-laws' storage units as well. Last weekend I helped my husband put in a sprinkler system, I do the grocery shopping... run, run, run! You would think that I am on a marathon that never stops!

So.... why have I only lost 20lbs in the last YEAR?!!? Any answers?

What else?!!?

Talk about timing!

Well... I knew there was a reason that we did not get that home, I just wasn't sure what it was. I mentioned before about my husband's health problems... Well, right now the problem has been his back and his work would not let him come back with out a release form. We were so close to getting it all figured out and getting him released, but when he went to talk to them yesterday they layed him off!

I don't blame them... but, I don't blame my husband either. It's just hard times for everyone. But, I am very grateful that we decided to stay where we are for now. At the moment I am trying to convince him to take advantage of this time and to look into going back to school. He wants to, but he looks at it as climbing a mountain and I know that he is scared to take that first step. He is such a cuttie!!

Well... I have to run, it's a busy day. BUT... I promise that my next few blogs will be MUCH more uplifting!! ;)

Hello everyone! Sorry for the change and confussion!!

I am sure that I am not the only one noticing the change in the economy... so, I am sure that you can all understand when I say that I have had to make some changes in my budget. This included having a "free" weblog instead of one that I had to pay for.

Well... It has been a LONG time! Here is what's been happenin' in my life:

We did not get the house. My husband has been having some health issues and we started to get nervouse about having a loan right now. We have decided to stay where we are for a while longer to save up and to continue to work with the doctors on Ken's conditions.

I myself had a little health scare about a month ago. I went through a month of daily head aches, stomach aches, and a lot of fatigue. I finally decided to go to the doctors and, although they did not tell me at first, they thought I might have a tumor. I had a CAT scan on my head and an Ultrasound but both came out fine. They gave me something for my head aches and told me to work on my diet. I have since then quit smoking and lost 4 lbs! Feeling better!! :)

My mother is moving to UTAH!!!!! I am flying home to Chicago on October 24th and driving back with her... I am soooooooooooo excited that I can hardly stand it! I have prayed for so long to have my mom close by again!

I have finally started submitting some of my "creations" to magazines... I will let you know if anything comes of it. I am trying not to get my hopes up.

Besides all that, I am just trying to keep myself sain. It seems as though life has been very busy... every day after work I have either errands to run, apartments to look at for my mom, a car to unload into storage, laundry, cleaning, or something else! LOL It's not too bad, it actually feels good to be busy and feel needed.

Well, I am back and will be keeping up now... so, I hope to hear from you all soon!
Love you!!

~Eliese